Graffiti Sweetie: A Character Analysis
by GraffitiSweetie
Summary: This is my background for a character I'm playing in an upcoming production of In The Heights. Her name is Graffiti Sweetie, and she is Graffiti Pete's girlfriend. Please note that because the Pete in my show is young, I had to keep the age of Sweetie low. Please review and tell me if I left anything out or if there is another specific scene or character relationship I can look at.


What Happened to Sweetie:

Real Name: meh, I like Naomi

Age: God, um, a really tall 13 year old?

Weight: 105lbs (pete is 90 :( )

Height: 5'1"

Personality: sassy, sarcastic, sweet at times, protective of family/people she sees as family, rebellious, wary and kind of disobedient to adults, doesn't like being told what to do (unless there's a good reason), appreciates the little things in life

likes Pete because she looks up to him. She likes how free he is, and how he doesn't let anything bother him. No one can control him, or tell him what to do. Plus, he's a really good artist and dancer

-born in Manhattan to rich parents, was meant to be just a wealthy little heiress.

-walking home from school one day when she ran into Pete (didn't know it was him/he saw her too) tagging a wall (10 years old). She liked his art a lot and liked him even more when he teased the police that came to arrest him. He got away and she decided she hated the rules and regulations her parents set and that she loved art and wanted to draw

-6 months later, she is still rebellious and her parents consider her a problem child

-her dad works for the NY Stock Exchange and loses a lot of his-and his investors-money. To pay off his lawsuits fees and debts, the family has to downsize and moves to the barrio to save money.

-Yes, the entire family is white, blonde-haired, and none of them speak spanish. WTF were they thinking?!

-Once there, her mom and dad try to stay as rich and snooty as they can, not interacting with any of their neighbors.

-She, on the other hand, embraces the change and sense of freedom that comes with it. Although her parents control her even more in the "scary" neighborhood, she learns to escape through the fire escape near her window.

-one day, as she's wandering around, she happens to find what looks like an abandoned mural with some paint cans by it. Assuming the artist left or got arrested she picks up the brush and starts to paint. She gets halfway done with her design when Pete comes running up, "Yo! That's my wall!"

-After he sees her works and decides he likes it, they finish it together. They become best friends for the next year. He shows her around the barrio, introduces her to Sonny, Usnavi, Abuela Claudia, Benny, Nina, Vanessa

-Random sidenote: Sonny is her first kiss. 'Cuz they were young and he heard Nina was coming home, and he wanted to practice. Pete was livid when he found out

-Sonny, Pete, and Sweetie are the ultimate trio, Harry Potter style

-after the kiss incident, Pete reveals he had a crush on a girl who watched him paint and then stayed when the police came for a while. Yep, its her

-Pete asks Sweetie out. They've been together for about 9 months at the start of the musical.

- Both Sonny and Pete feel slightly overprotective of Sweetie, Sonny over both of them because they have a tendency to almost get caught and arrested by police

-Sonny was secretly planning to save his third of the money to use for bail if they ever did get arrested, because once usnavi is gone, he's not sure what would happen

-She actually would get along pretty well with Usnavi if she wasn't Pete's girlfriend. They met when Pete was showing her how to create her own special tag-using the bodega. Usnavi appreciated that she came back and apologized and painted over it later, but he still doesn't trust her

-She put the highlights in her hair in a fit of rage. Her mom had tried to make her go to church in a fluffy pink dress to be "healed." She wanted to professionally dye her hair, but Daniela and Carla refused because they liked the blonde color she had. After seeing it and hearing Pete say, "You hair looks good," she just redoes it when it fades.

-she spends a couple nights a week at Petes. Her dad started drinking when they moved to the barrio, and it's nice to get away sometimes.

-although she can appreciate hard work, she still doesn't like it when people tell her to do stuff or imply that she should do it, which explains the complaining scene before carnival

-the reason she hangs on Pete sometimes is because she doesn't want him to start believing what everyone says about them. She knows they are going to be famous one day, and although Pete doesn't show it, she knows every careless comment Usnavi makes hurts him. Her method of boosting his ego and making him feel better just isn't very subtle.

-Pete had illegal fireworks because he can sell them, but also because they plan to set a few of them off by themselves because she loves to see them

-she designed Pete's tshirt that he tries to sell. He's only wearing it because she asked him to. It is pretty cool though, she airbrushed it herself.

-she made their paint can belts herself out of duct tape

-Pete and Sonny, with occasionally Abuela, taught her Spanish. She isn't fluent, but she is definitely better than Benny

-she sees Nina as kind of a role model for her, except she rather stay in NY for college

-she never really talked to Vanessa, but she knows about her and Usnavi and secretly thinks they'd be adorable together.

-she goes to school most days, then comes home and teaches what she learned to Pete and helps Sonny with his homework. She's smart, but not Nina smart, so everyone kind of looks over her.

-Some people dislike her because they know her parents. Some folks like her because they DON'T know her parents. She's tan and acts different, so it's an understandable mistake.


End file.
